Pureboy
Mar 8, 06, 4:16 pm
Well, I completed my first MR this morning, and I'm bleary-eyed to say the least. (See previous thread (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=530970&page=1&pp=15) for all the drama)
Total EQM: 5706
11:25A JFK- SFO (UA)
3:21P SFO- SAN (UA)
10:15P SAN- CLT (US)
5:15A PHL- LGA (US)
All in Y-cabin, UA flights were P.S. and E+
Left my Upper West Side apt at 8:30am to take the subway to the airtrain to JFK. The E was slow, but the connection process is very easy. Took a bit over an hour door to terminal.
I went standby for the UA flights (booked for a later one), sat next to a nice British couple to SFO, had a good conversation. Didn't get my kosher meal as was expected due to standby, but FA was very nice and got me some fruit from B or F cabin.
Grabbed a quick sushi lunch since the flight to SAN was delayed for 20 min.
I had a window with empty middle to SAN, met a friend and his new fiancee for dinner on my "layover" in SAN.
Post-merger, US charges $25 for standby, which sucks because I wanted to take the earlier flight through PHL which would give me more miles and get me into LGA 30 min earlier. So instead, I waited for the CLT flight that I stupidly paid $98 to switch to. I spent enough money on this MR anyhow! While fallnig asleep on the floor of the gate watching a DVD, this obviously disturbed guy wearing half a shirt and making loud noises, shaking a bit, gets into a shouting match with someone else. I did't see what was going on exactly, but he was confronted by cops and denied boarding. Was this SouthWest and was I in an episode of Airline?
Got on the plane, aisle with an empty middle. halfway through the flight, another dude starts yelling that his sides hurt. FA asks for a doctor, some guys go to help. I never found out exactly what the issue was, but the guy also looked disturbed. Is CLT a magnet for crazies? Or maybe its SAN?
CLT-LGA is nice and quiet. Mostly full, I had aisle with a guy next to me, had a short discussion about comics, as I was reading Batman: The Long Haloween.
Arrive in LGA, catch a bus pretty quickly, transfer to the 3, get to my apt just about 24 hrs after I left. quickly get ready for work, and here I am.
In conclusion, I've decided that doing a MR cross-country in Y is a bit nuts, at least for me. I understand some people looove flying, and I like it or at least don't mind it, but this is too much (esp since I'm flying to LAX tomorrow)!
If I can fly paid United for all my planned trips this year, and fly int'l somewhere (pretty likely), I'll probably be able to make 1P.
Lessons learned (more for myself than general MR advice):
1) Don't panic when you make a stupid routing (see earlier in the thread). UA is good about standby, so check availability. I wasted $100, and if I didn't spend it I would have gotten back to NY earlier with more EQM.
2) Make an MR something more than a pure MR. See a friend, see something in one of the cities. Then I'd feel like less of an idiot. This time, I changed the MR so that I got to see my old friend, and his future wife.
3) Don't do a redeye on a work day. If you can get back home by that night, even late, you won't want to poke your eyes out.
4) Avoid travel to CLT. Must be something in the water there.
Total EQM: 5706
11:25A JFK- SFO (UA)
3:21P SFO- SAN (UA)
10:15P SAN- CLT (US)
5:15A PHL- LGA (US)
All in Y-cabin, UA flights were P.S. and E+
Left my Upper West Side apt at 8:30am to take the subway to the airtrain to JFK. The E was slow, but the connection process is very easy. Took a bit over an hour door to terminal.
I went standby for the UA flights (booked for a later one), sat next to a nice British couple to SFO, had a good conversation. Didn't get my kosher meal as was expected due to standby, but FA was very nice and got me some fruit from B or F cabin.
Grabbed a quick sushi lunch since the flight to SAN was delayed for 20 min.
I had a window with empty middle to SAN, met a friend and his new fiancee for dinner on my "layover" in SAN.
Post-merger, US charges $25 for standby, which sucks because I wanted to take the earlier flight through PHL which would give me more miles and get me into LGA 30 min earlier. So instead, I waited for the CLT flight that I stupidly paid $98 to switch to. I spent enough money on this MR anyhow! While fallnig asleep on the floor of the gate watching a DVD, this obviously disturbed guy wearing half a shirt and making loud noises, shaking a bit, gets into a shouting match with someone else. I did't see what was going on exactly, but he was confronted by cops and denied boarding. Was this SouthWest and was I in an episode of Airline?
Got on the plane, aisle with an empty middle. halfway through the flight, another dude starts yelling that his sides hurt. FA asks for a doctor, some guys go to help. I never found out exactly what the issue was, but the guy also looked disturbed. Is CLT a magnet for crazies? Or maybe its SAN?
CLT-LGA is nice and quiet. Mostly full, I had aisle with a guy next to me, had a short discussion about comics, as I was reading Batman: The Long Haloween.
Arrive in LGA, catch a bus pretty quickly, transfer to the 3, get to my apt just about 24 hrs after I left. quickly get ready for work, and here I am.
In conclusion, I've decided that doing a MR cross-country in Y is a bit nuts, at least for me. I understand some people looove flying, and I like it or at least don't mind it, but this is too much (esp since I'm flying to LAX tomorrow)!
If I can fly paid United for all my planned trips this year, and fly int'l somewhere (pretty likely), I'll probably be able to make 1P.
Lessons learned (more for myself than general MR advice):
1) Don't panic when you make a stupid routing (see earlier in the thread). UA is good about standby, so check availability. I wasted $100, and if I didn't spend it I would have gotten back to NY earlier with more EQM.
2) Make an MR something more than a pure MR. See a friend, see something in one of the cities. Then I'd feel like less of an idiot. This time, I changed the MR so that I got to see my old friend, and his future wife.
3) Don't do a redeye on a work day. If you can get back home by that night, even late, you won't want to poke your eyes out.
4) Avoid travel to CLT. Must be something in the water there.